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The new normal – according to Enterprise Nation members

| Oct 12th, 2016

Technology is changing the way we do business, from flexible working to greater insights into customers and always-on contact. What was once considered normal business practice is changing every day. Enterprise Nation members tell us about their new normal.

Who needs an office?

There is no office anymore. Most of our creative team work flexibly from their own homes or personal offices and we stay in contact via Skype. I never wanted geographical location to come between our company and the talent we wanted to recruit, who are all over the country, so we’ve found new ways to make it happen.

Digital tracking of every aspect of business is now possible with new software tools appearing every day and you can make use of them wherever you are. The ways to market are improving and increasing at a faster rate than at any time in the history of commerce and we as business people need to keep pace with them.

We’re not stuck in one place and we’re running around all the time. I can literally run my business from my phone and do what I have to do wherever I am. I had a great idea for a new shoe style while I was on the bus, shared it via Instagram and made it happen.

Flexible working has been vital to Tahouts is the startup stage. When I was at University, having an office which I was in every day simply wasn’t an option because of other commitments. So being able to run everything on the go was vital. By being flexible it didn’t matter if I was in a lecture or in a coffee shop I could keep on top of things.

The advancement of technology coupled with the growth and development of our team has enabled me to be able to run an international business from pretty much anywhere in the world. And for us, having a partner like O2 Business allows us to stay connected all the time.

I’m not bound to a desk 9 to 5 and I’d hate to go back that lifestyle and having to answer to a boss I don’t respect. Having the flexibility to be there for my children all day every day, just deciding to go the park if the weathers nice with my dog CoCo and feed the ducks. At times I may be working late into the night fulfilling orders, or wondering where my next order will be coming from. But having started this journey, I never want it to end.

My new normal is being out and about all the time. It’s all about the concept of a mobile office for me; setting up in a coffee shop or on a train. If I’m between meetings in central London I’ll just find a wifi hotspot on my phone and work from there. Twitter has revolutionised my networking capacity, I am now able to connect with people who I would only have hoped of working with in my wildest dreams!

We constantly update our site to make the shirt design process as user friendly as possible. We recently released the world’s only fully 3D shirt builder (which we keep on optimising) and we are now working on an algorithm that will calculate measurements based on questions and combine it with our huge database of shirt patterns. Yes, you read that right, a way to measure yourself without having to measure yourself.

Enterprise Nation launched in 2005 and has since helped thousands of people start and grow their businesses. Led by founder Emma Jones MBE, it’s also a leading campaigning voice for small business with the Government. See more Enterprise Nation stories